We ran into some interesting gentlemen during our time in Cuyahoga Valley -- John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt. For those of you who are not familiar with them, John Muir is considered by many to be the father of the National Park Service. He founded The Sierra Club and advocated for the creation of Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, as well as numerous other wilderness areas. Theodore Roosevelt (affectionately, Teddy) was President of the United States from 1901-1909 and signed five National Parks and 18 National Monuments into law.

In 1903, John Muir took Teddy Roosevelt out camping in Yosemite National Park. While they were only there for three days, their knowledge about surviving in the wilderness became encyclopedic. We got lucky -- they shared with us some of their knowledge, and assured us that they would assist us on our journey to visit all 59 National Parks.

In the video below, an overly scruffy Teddy tries to replicate John's legendary camping coffee recipe. We hope that you will find it as useful and helpful as we did. Make sure to check back -- this is only the first of many appearances John and Teddy will make throughout our journey.